Trade minister meets USTR, trade officials of major economies at Davos forum

SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) — South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo held a series of meetings with U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer and ranking trade officials of other major economies during the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) this week to discuss pending trade issues, Yeo’s office said Friday.

In his meeting with Greer, Yeo and the USTR agreed to continue close communications for stable management of trade relations between the two countries, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said, without elaborating on the details of their discussions.

Yeo and Greer are counterparts for consultations on non-tariff trade barrier (NTB) issues between Seoul and Washington.

The two countries agreed to work together to address NTB issues under a joint trade deal reached last year.

Recently, Seoul’s push for digital regulations has emerged as a potential trade conflict with the U.S., with Washington raising concerns over Seoul’s ongoing investigation into a massive data breach at Coupang Inc., a U.S. listed e-commerce firm with a large customer base in South Korea.

Yeo also met with other U.S. officials, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), to discuss Korea’s investment in the U.S. and economic cooperation, according to the ministry.

 

The ministry said Yeo held separate meetings with Maros Sefcovic, commissioner for trade and economic security at the European Commission, and Canadian Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu to call for remedies to their steel safeguard measures, expected to impact Korean companies.

Yeo also met with trade and economy ministers of France, Switzerland and Israel to discuss their response to U.S. trade policies and ways to expand industrial cooperation.

As part of efforts to diversify Korea’s trade network, Yeo met with the Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Jasen Mohamed AlBudaiwi, Saudi Arabian Trade Minister Majid Al-Qasabi, Thailand’s foreign and trade ministers, Egypt’s Trade Minister Hassan Elkhatib, Mongolian Prime Minister Gombojavyn Zandanshatar and others.

With his Chinese counterpart, Li Chenggang, Yeo discussed the ongoing negotiations to expand the bilateral free trade agreement in services and investment sectors.

Additionally, the Korean trade minister held meetings with chief executive officers of major global firms, including Merck, Apple, Orstod, AstraZeneca, Coca-Cola and Amazon Web Services, to call for more investment in Korea and collect opinions on difficulties foreign companies face in operating in the country.

He also met with experts in the semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors to share views on Korea’s industrial policies, according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, Yeo also attended an unofficial meeting of trade ministers of WTO member nations on the sidelines of the Davos forum on Thursday (local time) to exchange views on the direction of the WTO’s reform.

“The government will continue its efforts to communicate on pending trade issues with major economies, while pushing for expansion of foreign investment that benefits national interests through communications with global companies,” Yeo said in a press release.

“Korea will also faithfully carry out its role as a rule-setter for WTO reforms and the establishment of new trade norms in the AI and digital sectors to help with the restoration of the multilateral system,” he added.

 

nyway@yna.co.kr

(YONHAP NEWS)